Regulators say Fukushima plant leaking contaminated water into ocean

Thursday, 18 July 2013 16:48

The Fukushima nuclear power plant is probably still leaking contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean despite denials by the plant's operator, regulators say.

It has apparently been leaking contaminated water into the ocean for the two years since the earthquake/tsunami disaster that saw three of the plant's six reactors suffer a meltdown, Shunichi Tanaka, head of Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority said Wednesday.

Ground water leaking into the basement of the damaged reactors is becoming contaminated and has to be pumped out and stored in huge tanks on site, but the inflow has not yet been stopped, officials said.

Tanaka said neither authority staff nor those working for the plant's operator have been able to determine where the leaks are coming from, the Christian Science Monitor reported.